This was an incredible by-election week for the Lib Dems, as we held both seats in Milton Keynes and have made gains from Labour in West Oxfordshire and Edinburgh. Labour held their other 7 seats and did not make gains; the Green Party failed to defend their only seat up for election this week, losing it to the Conservatives.
The headline win for Lib Dems this week goes to Cllr Louise Spence who stood in the Colinton/Fairmilehead ward in Edinburgh Council. She came out ahead in the sea of candidates (there are in total 12!) and nearly tripled the previous first preference votes for the Lib Dems compared to the last election. Congratulations to Louise and the team for taking this win from where we originally placed fourth! This couldn’t have been easy.
Edinburgh Council, Colinton/Fairmilehead (1st preference votes, Liberal Democrat elected at stage 11)
Liberal Democrat (Louise Spence): 2683 (36.3%, +23.8%)
Conservative: 1454 (19.6%, -10.3%)
Labour: 1441 (19.5%, -13.9%)
SNP: 800 (10.8%, -6.4%)
Green Party: 393 (5.3%, -0.1%)
Reform: 268 (3.6%, new)
Independent: 173 (2.3%, new)
Independent: 57 (0.8%, new)
Scottish Family Party: 51 (0.7%, -0.9%)
Independent: 50 (0.7%, new)
Independent: 22 (0.3%, new)
Libertarian Party: 9 (0.1%, new)
In West Oxfordshire DC, the Lib Dems have also grown their support in Chipping Norton from fourth place to first, gaining the seat from Labour. Labour’s vote in the ward plummeted over half from 61.4% to 27.2%, while Cllr Mike Baggaley more than tripled the Lib Dem vote share. Congrats and well done to Mike and the team for running an amazing campaign and gaining the seat.
West Oxfordshire DC, Chipping Norton
Liberal Democrat (Mike Baggaley): 403 (31.3%, +24.6%)
Conservative: 383 (29.7%, +9.0%)
Labour: 350 (27.2%, -34.2%)
Green Party: 152 (11.8%, +0.5%)
The team in Milton Keynes City Council have also been working hard to defend the Bradwell and Broughton ward from by-election. Both Cllr Kerrie Bradburn and Cllr Clare Tevlin posted a massive vote share of over 50% and comfortably won their respective ward. Well done and congrats to Kerrie, Clare, and their teams for securing the seats for the Lib Dems!
Milton Keynes City Council, Bradwell
Liberal Democrat (Kerrie Bradburn): 1129 (56.1%, +2.3%)
Labour: 329 (16.3%, -8.6%)
Reform: 228 (11.3%, new)
Conservative: 226 (11.2%, -2.5%)
Green Party: 101 (5.0%, -2.5%)
Milton Keynes City Council, Broughton
Liberal Democrat (Clare Tevlin): 1169 (51.5%, +5.6%)
Conservative: 541 (23.8%, -2.2%)
Labour: 360 (15.9%, -5.5%)
Green Party: 138 (6.1%, +1.2%)
Heritage Party: 61 (2.7%, +0.9%)
For a full summary of these results, and all other principal council by-elections, please refer to the ALDC by-elections page here.
* Matthew Ma works in the Campaigns and Communications team at ALDC
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3 Comments
I understand there were two byelections in East Ayrshire and West Lothian yesterday. Any news on how they went ?
I have great sympathy for those struggling with life at present.
I was especially pleased by the result in the Stansfield Ward of Todmorden Town Council where my friend Nikki Stocks took the seat from Labour. [ Nikki Stocks 215, Labour 154] In May 2023, we were reduced from 6 to 1 with Labour taking 17 of the 18 seats. In a few weeks there will be a further by-election in my former Walsden Ward and given Labour’s current unpopularity there will be another opportunity there. There may also be opportubnities in two vacant seats on Hebdenroyd Town Council if someone calls the elections. If you are in a position to offer help, please do.